The Greatest Gift of All
by Animeaholic
Summary: On the anniversary of their first kiss Yzak searches for a gift to show Flay just how much she means to him. A light-hearted sappy belated holiday story for those few YxF fans out there.


**Title: **The Greatest Gift of All

**Genre: **Romance

**Rated: **T for Language

**Summary: **On the anniversary of their first kiss Yzak searches for a gift to show Flay just how much she means to him. A light-hearted sappy belated holiday story for those few YxF fans out there.

**Date Started: **Friday, January 3, 2014

**Date Finished: **Sunday, January 5, 2014

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gundam Seed or any of its characters.

**A/N: **I've wanted to contribute a nice fluffy Flay and Yzak story for a while now but I find that I struggle to write light hearted pieces well. But I had this idea to celebrate the holidays and so I thought that I'd give it a go. It is ridiculously cheesy and sappy and may not be very good at all but I figured that another contribution to Yzak and Flay couldn't hurt too badly. Still periodically chipping away at the Opposites series, all of the big scenes are planned out but I just need to get the transitions to work smoothly. Maybe someday it will be done. Thanks for reading and leave a review if you enjoy the story!

00000

It was just a kiss, but to Yzak Joule it was so much more than that. It was the moment that ushered in the best year of his life and much more importantly brought love into it for the first time. It wasn't exactly what you would call the most romantic first kiss of all time, but it was his and hers and that was all that really mattered. The only feeling that had been more intense than the sweet tickle of her soft lips brushing against his was the complete shock of it all. One minute he had been standing next to her counting down the seconds to the New Year and the next thing he knew she had wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into the most pleasant surprise of his entire 20 years on the planet. She hadn't asked or built it up at all she just did it. But that was Flay; sweet, wonderful, compassionate, and oh so bold. She never hesitated to seize the moment when she saw an opportunity to get what she wanted, and he loved her for it. After all he certainly never would have been so bold as to make the first move. He had never felt that way about someone before and he had no clue how to deal with it. He wouldn't even tell his friends how he felt about her, but from their constant nagging and teasing he guessed that they somehow figured it out, probably because he was always so much nicer to Flay than he was to any of them.

When she pulled away he was stiff as a board with a prominent streak of red running across his handsome young features, frozen by her hauntingly beautiful ocean gray stare. _Damn it why did she have to look so God damn sexy? Look away! _he had thought as he struggled to comprehend what to do. Finally he opened his mouth and just said it.

"W-what the hell was that?"

She giggled. God damn it he hated that, it was so cute and yet demoralizing at the same time.

"You're supposed to kiss after the countdown silly!" She gave him a playful smile, her face glowing with enthusiasm. Then suddenly she frowned and looked to the side, a sadness dancing across her face. "Why? Did you not like it…" she quietly asked, with just the slightest hint of disappointment in her voice.

Yzak was so flustered and caught off guard that he almost leapt backwards. He was playing right into her hands, slowly being pulled into her skillfully crafted web of seduction.

"N-no, it's not that, well it's not like… it's just…" He struggled desperately to find the right words. What was he to do? Play it off as if it were just unexpected? Take the opportunity to tell her how he felt? What did she want him to do? What the hell was this God damn? Yzak Joule was a person who very rarely was not in complete control of whatever situation he faced, and so when she stepped out and forced him into the spotlight with no preparation like this he was as doomed and trapped as a deer in the headlights.

She perked up, returned to that sexy playful stare and asked "Oh? Is that the first time you've ever been kissed Yzak Joule?" she demanded.

He went pale and silent, the cold sweat from his brow threatened to freeze the expression of horror on his face for eternity. She got him, he was lost. The black widow had ensnared her prey and claimed what was hers; all that she had to do now was take the first bite. She giggled and grabbed his arm, pulling it close into her chest and looking deep it those helpless icy blue eyes of his.

"Come on, let's dance". She pulled him onto the dance floor with ease, he was far too helpless to try and put up any more foolish resistance.

"God. Fucking. Damn it Yzak, would you please hurry up? I'm freezing my fucking nuts off…"

He was rudely jerked out of that beautiful memory by the shivering voice of his best friend, who had proven all together useless in the day's endeavours.

"Would you shut the hell up Dearka? It's your fault that you didn't dress warmer!" He scowled.

"We've been staring at this stupid thing for 15 minutes! Would you make up your mind already!"

The night was as black as coal except for the soft white snowflakes drifting ever so gently to the ground. They stood under the bright yellow cone of light from the street light facing a brilliant gold locket on a model bust in the window of a shop. It was opened with two black and white pictures, one in each of its heart shaped sides. Below it was a sign with a generic bland hallmark line "Together in the heart".

"Well unlike you I don't want to settle for giving my girlfriend an anniversary gift as thoughtless as a picture of myself!"

"Hey, that was _with_ the gift!" Dearka corrected. Then with a smirk he replied "And that picture was a beautiful thing."

Yzak shuddered at the thought of just what that beautiful thing his notoriously perverted friend might be speaking of. He returned his focus to the locket, trying to picture his and Flay's faces adorned in each of the frames. It just wouldn't do. It had been difficult enough to find Flay a Christmas gift, but this was next to impossible. Tonight marked a year since the day Flay kissed her way into Yzak's heart. Since then Flay had made every single day so beautiful, she ensured that he always had something to smile about every day. In such a short time she had become everything to him and she always gave him the motivation to get through any hardship. He needed the perfect gift, something that said everything that he couldn't. But his efforts had all been failures, and it was no wonder why. How do you tell someone that they are your world with something you buy for them at a department store? Yzak supposed it was impossible, because she would always be so much more valuable to him than even the most expensive diamond ring that he could ever give her.

He thought back to the weeks leading up to Christmas, and the delicious shortbread cookies that Flay had worked tirelessly to perfect for him. He had mentioned in passing once that his grandmother had made perfect shortbread cookies with chocolate icing and cherries on top, and how Christmas just hadn't been the same without them ever since her passing. When she handed him the gift box with the cookies so gracefully arranged inside he was so touched that his eyes actually swelled up with the faintest hint of tears. No one had ever done something so kind and thoughtful for him before, and in that moment he felt truly loved.

"I'm sure they won't be quite as good as your grandmother's were, but I worked really hard and tried my best to make them perfect for you. And um… well, I want to be the one to make Christmas cookies for you from now on.. every year." She said timidly, with a bright shade of red in her cheeks, looking at the ground. It was so strange to see her nervous like that. She looked so adorable that in the back of his mind he sort of wished she would get that way more often.

In truth they hadn't been as good as his grandmother's, he could taste the love that she put into them with every bite, and that made them oh such much better.

How could he possibly equal that, what could he get her that was as thoughtful as that? What could he get to make her know that he loved her every time she looked at it? As he continued to puzzle over this burning question his friend's voice pulled him out of his thoughts and back into reality.

"Um.. Yzak? It's 8:15, aren't you supposed to meet Flay for dinner in half an hour? Shouldn't you get a move on?"

"WHAT!?" Yzak yelled in shock, quickly checking his watch to see for himself. "God damn it! It's been seven hours since we started shopping already?"

"Seven painful hours…" Dearka whined. "And I should probably go meet Milly and get ready for the party at Athrun's tonight. So what's it going to be Yzak? Are you going to buy that thing or what? You better make up your mind quickly."

_Damn it _Yzak cursed himself. How could he have lost track of time so easily? He stared at the locket, thoroughly unsatisfied. What was he to do? He didn't really have a choice; he couldn't show up empty handed. This would have to do, for now…

00000

As he began the lonely walk to the park he was once again reminded of the weeks leading up to the holidays.

"_Flay there is no way that you are spending Christmas alone in your apartment! You are coming to my mother's house with me!" he frowned. Since her father's death the year before she started college she had been completely alone, without any family to spend her holidays with. Just an empty single bedroom apartment and the light of the TV to comfort her during those long Christmas Eve's, saddened by all of the long gone Christmas memories from when her dearly departed parents were still there for her._

_He wasn't going to stand for it, there was no way that she was going to have to go through that again this year, not now that he was with her. She didn't ever have to be alone anymore._

"_But I just don't know Yzak. What if your mother doesn't like me? What if I intrude on her holiday time with her only child? She really misses you I'm sure, and she is probably really looking forward to spending the holidays with you. I wouldn't want to get in the way of that."_

_Yzak was taken aback. "Where would you possibly get an idea like that?"_

"_Well, it's just that from what you've told me she seems to be very protective of you, and must have such high standards for what kind of woman she wants you to be with."_

_Yzak guffawed at the thought of that, she really could be quite silly at times._

"_Please don't laugh! I just really want her to like me and so I don't want to get off on the wrong foot with a poor first impression!"_

"_You're right, she does have really high standards…" he began, causing her to frown and shift her gaze to the ground "but you have effectively blown those standards way out of the water! I've obviously told her all about you! How could I not. And given her reactions I think that she might love you even more than I do!" he smirked at such a thought "She is dying to meet you, it would ruin her Christmas if you decided not to come!"_

_She lit up and her smile filled his heart with so much joy. "Do you really mean that?"_

_He smiled and ran a hand through her fire red locks, softly caressing her cheek. "Of course I do Flay, I would never lie about something like that."_

_His smile gave her all the confidence in the world and she threw herself into his arms._

_Yzak let out a playful chuckle. "Well then…" he said "I guess that we can take that as a yes."_

As expected Flay and Ezalia had bonded magically. Flay helped with the Christmas dinner and sat by the fire with Ezalia into the wee hours of the morning, looking at old photo albums and listening to all of the embarrassing stories from Yzak's childhood. After they left his mother had told him that it was the best holiday she had ever had, and he obviously agreed. Flay had meant so much to him, she filled such a huge void in his life, and just thinking about her filled him with warmth and joy. He just wanted to be with her at every moment, and do everything he could to make her feel as loved and appreciated as she had made him feel. It was just too bad that he had so much trouble showing his emotions. He could just never seem to do it adequately; he always felt that whatever he said and did wasn't enough. And this rushed anniversary gift was just another instance of that. He grasped the gift wrapped package in his pocket trying to envision what her reaction would be when she opened it and glanced at the pictures that he had pulled out of his wallet and hastily cut into size as he waited in line for the gift wrappers at the shop. It just didn't feel right giving her something like this, it just felt so generic, and there was no deep meaning behind it whatsoever.

As he pondered her reaction yet another memory slipped into his mind, a memory from that first night of passion that he had spent with her in her apartment.

_They lay together upon her silk sheets in darkness, held in a light embraced. She brushes her light sweet kisses across his collar bone and he places his gently upon her head. Slowly, reluctantly he begins to rise. The moment was so perfect and yet it had to be interrupted. That was just life, time moves on and takes away those moments that you wish would last forever. He had classes to attend and papers to write and the sun was slowly rearing its ugly head. He must get ready to takes his leave of her and he knows that every moment will be agonizing until he is able to return._

"_Where are you going?" she asks, looking up to him with the saddest eyes._

_He kisses her deeply on the lips and then pulls away. "I've got to get ready for the day, sadly. Can I use your shower?"_

"_Do you really have to go? Can't we stay like this for a little while longer?" she asks, although she knows that they have already indulged in too much time in each other's arms._

"_I'm afraid so…" he said regretfully._

_As she sat in her robe running the brush through her fine red hair she heard the most pleasant singing voice trailing from her bathroom. She stifled a giggle. She couldn't believe it, Yzak Joule sings in the shower? Surely he must have forgotten that he was at her house, and slipped into song by habit. What would Dearka say if he ever found out about this? _

_But of course he never would find out, she thought. Because this would be their little secret, one of those tiny little things that only lovers knew about each other._

_And yet most surprising of all was just how beautiful and harmonious his voice sounded. He sang "Three Times a Lady" with such grace that even Lionel Richie himself would be jealous. It was just so unlike Yzak, with all of that rough exterior and seriousness, to have such a beautiful and romantic singing voice. It was surreal and almost ridiculous to hear and yet at the same time it made her melt. It reminded her of his sensitive side that she loved so much, the side that only she knew._

_As he kissed her goodbye the faint scent of her strawberry shampoo drifted from his damp silver hair and into her nose. She pulled herself closely to his ear and whispered "You have a beautiful singing voice Yzak Joule."_

_As she pulled away the look of shock and horror on his face was priceless. "But don't you worry," she told him "it's our little secret"._

Yzak still couldn't believe how careless he had been that morning. Yzak was a lover of music and as many music lovers do he had simply acquired the habit of singing along to the lyrics. When he was alone and he had a song stuck in his head he would often find himself quietly singing it out loud. But never would he have thought that he would have let his guard down around another person so heavily that he would accidently slip into song around them. It was a good thing he supposed, because it showed just how comfortable he was around her, just how natural it felt to be by her side, just how much she had affected him in such a short time

He remembers a night not so long ago, when he had shown up at her place to surprise her and found her kneeling on the floor, crying her entire heart out and clutching a picture of her dead father to her chest. How it broke his heart to see her in so much pain. He had held her long and hard on that night, the way true lovers hold one another, to protect each other from their pain, to let them know that they aren't alone, that they are loved and so everything will be all right. He told her how much he loved her, and how he would be there for her no matter what, he would hold her in his arms forever if that was what she wanted. She opened her entire soul to him that night, she told him everything. How she had moved to the city after her father died to try and get away from the haunting memories of the old house and start a new life. About how it hadn't worked, and how she thought of her father and cried for him every single day. And he listened. He listened and told her all about his own problems as well. About how he had to grow up fast and be so strong and tough because there was no father there to be the man of his house and how he felt that it was his responsibility to fill that role. About how he would sometimes cry alone in bed at night when he was a boy, wondering why his father wasn't there. They shared in each other's pain that night, until finally her tears slowly faded away and she rested her head upon his lap while he gently stroked her hair. It was on that night when Yzak Joule truly learned what it meant to love another human being.

"Yzak?" she had asked him, as he played with her hair ever so gently.

"Yes Flay?" he asked.

"Sing for me."

And so he did. He sang for her because she was his, the only person that he would ever sing for. His beloved Flay; there was nothing he wouldn't do to take even the littlest bit of her pain away.

He sang: _"You were once, twice, three times a lady, and I love you…" _

And she was three times a lady. As a matter of fact she was so much more than that, and all he had to show her that was a golden necklace hastily purchased and wrapped at the last minute before the celebration of the moment that made his life whole.

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As she ran across the street and into his arms Yzak's heart sank with shame, now was the time to give it to her, and to face the fact that he hadn't been thoughtful enough to get her a gift that she truly deserved.

As she pulled back the wrapping paper he couldn't even bring himself to look.

She gasped "it's so beautiful… and it has our pictures in it." There was a quiver in her voice and tears threatened to stream out of the corners of her eyes.

She flung her arms around him and thanked him deeply from the bottom of her heart. But she noticed how stuff he was and saw the disappointment in his face.

"What's wrong?" She asked, with great confusion and concern in her voice.

He turned and looked away. "It's just not good enough." He snapped.

"What do you mean?"

"I wanted to get you the greatest gift of all! Something to show you how important you are! How you make every day worth living and brought love into my life, how you've made me happier than I have ever been in my entire life! How you are my world and I already know that I want you in my life forever!"

He squinted hard and gritted his teeth, angry at himself for his failure. "But I just couldn't find it! And I had to settle for that. But I never should have settled, you are worth so much more than that."

Flay held the locket dearly to her heart. With her free hand she reached out and stroked his cheek.

"Yzak…" she said gently. She felt so much love for him right now and she had to use all of her power to keep herself from bawling like a little girl. She was so lucky and she felt truly special. Every little girl dreams of spending their entire life with a man who loves them as much as this, but so many of them never would. But she had found him and he had found her, and that was something so perfect and amazing that no words or objects could ever hope to capture it.

"Of course you couldn't find it. You've already given it to me."

"What do you mean? He asked, a look of total bewilderment on his face.

Flay giggled, he could be so dense sometimes.

"Yzak, don't you remember how you danced with me for a solid hour last New Year's even though you hate dancing? Or how you comforted me on that night when I was so upset about my father? These are the greatest gifts of all Yzak, the memories that you have given me. The moments that we have shared together, the little things that are just for us, all of the love. These are the things that I cherish most of all. I love this locket, I truly do. And I intend to wear it every day. But it isn't something I need. You don't need to buy me gifts to show me how much you love me Yzak. You have given me so many priceless gifts already, and there are so many more to come."

How could he have been so foolish to overlook that? He had spent the whole day recalling all of the beautiful moments that she had given him, and how she was the only thing that he needed to be happy. He never stopped and thought that he might have done the same for her. He was so caught up looking for the perfect gift that he forgot that love was the greatest gift that a man or a woman could ever give or receive.

She tugged on his arm. "Come on now, let's get out of the cold and go to dinner".

She started to drag him forward but before she could get him anywhere he pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Yzak…" she said, taken by surprise at his sudden outburst of affection.

"Never ever buy me anything." He commanded. "Because you are the only gift that I will ever need".

She opened her mouth to respond but before she could speak he stopped her with a deep and passionate kiss. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to be taken away by the gust of romance that swept through the cold dead of December's last night.

As the years went by Flay eventually forgot about the locket. But she never forgot the feeling of his lips against hers and his strong arms wrapped around her, as the chill of the wind threatened to freeze them in place forever and ever, on that one perfect night when their love celebrated its first year.

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**A/N: **Well there you have it! An incredibly cheesy and sappy light-hearted romance piece for the holidays. I hope that you enjoyed it! Please leave a review to let me know what you thought.

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